The Art of the Pivot: Adaptive Leadership Tools to Respond to Challenges and Exploit Opportunities.

By Beth Porter, Four Corners Broadcasting

Unknown interest rates and scarcity of traditional business loans. New technology. Increasing competition in the marketplace. Supply chain issues. Attracting and keeping talent. 

Successful leadership has always been a balancing act between maintaining the course and navigating change. However, in today’s business climate, navigating constant, unpredictable change seems to be the norm. Adaptive leadership not only provides solutions to challenges, but it also sets up a culture where the company is always on the lookout for new opportunities for growth and innovation.

Adaptive leadership is all about the pivot. It is one of the 5 leadership trends Forbes magazine has identified for 2024. Adaptive leadership is characterized by:

• Quick decision-making
• Ability to adjust plans in real time
• Creating a culture of continuous learning and adaptability
  

Besides developing skills to keep a business afloat when facing a challenge, Adaptive Leadership creates the ability to exploit opportunities for growth and innovation.

A recent advice article in LinkedIn outlined several components of Adaptive Leadership. 

Diagnose the challenge
Challenges can be technical or adaptive. Technical challenges can be resolved using existing skills, technologies or resources. They are often mechanical and can be resolved by pre-existing experts, within or outside your organization.

Adaptive challenges are vague, and more difficult to diagnose. There are no experts or pre-defined strategies to deal with them. They can involve company culture, mindsets, behaviors or values. These are the situations where the leader and team members must embrace creativity and innovation, possibly going where no one has gone before. It’s both exciting and nerve-racking!

Examine the challenge to decide which type you are dealing with.

Mobilize stakeholders
It usually takes a team to successfully address a challenge. A good leader knows their role is to identify the issue, communicate the situation, and rally the major stakeholders involved. Emotional intelligence is a must, knowing how to build trust and promote quality relationships. 

Experiment with solutions
One of the hallmarks of an adaptive challenge is that no one, from leadership down, has the answer or possibly even the skills to apply immediately. These circumstances require accepting that growth, new skills and different strategies may be the only solution. There’s no looking to past situations to find the answer.

During the brainstorming and research phases, it might be enticing to pursue the first reasonable solution that comes up. But the best solution usually requires creativity AND testing. Generate scenarios and test ideas. Gather and analyze feedback and results, then put the plan into action.

Learn from the outcomes
Adaptive leadership is ongoing. Once you’ve implemented a plan, continue to monitor the outcomes. In today’s environment, part of the success of solving this morning’s challenge is to apply those lessons to this afternoon’s situation! Measure and evaluate. Identify what worked and what didn’t. Take the time for a group debrief of lessons and insights.

Manage yourself
As we’ve all learned over the past few years, constant adaptation is difficult for most of us. It is demanding and draining. Be sure to take time for yourself and to watch your team for burnout.

Develop others
Adaptive leadership includes a healthy dose of mentorship, supporting and developing skills needed, and determining the capacity of your team. This includes delegating, distributing authority to team members, recognizing and rewarding effort and success.

Challenges in this management style:

• First and foremost, abandoning the hero model and realizing it takes a team.
• Understanding what was successful in the past may be the thing that is creating the biggest barrier to current and future success. 
• How to convince stakeholders to leave behind old strategies and embrace new ones.
• Being willing to listen and embrace the new ideas that are generated in this management style.

Successful leadership and the ability to pivot really is a team sport in today’s business. While it may take some deep personal work to let go of the “Captain of the Ship” mentality, adaptive leadership offers a real opportunity to develop and motivate a team, maximize everyone’s skills and creativity, and create a culture of trust and resilience. All of which can help your company identify and weather changes, while recognizing and exploiting opportunities for growth and innovation.

Looking for an immersive experience in leadership development or to develop leadership skills for a team member? Consider Leadership La Plata this year. Check out www.LeadershipLaPlata.org for more information.

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Beth Porter is the Senior Marketing Consultant with Four Corners Broadcasting and an alumni of Leadership La Plata Class of 2015-2016.